Stella Is Driving Down A Steep Hill, Articles C

We don't share your data with any third party organisations for marketing purposes. The failure of the 1984-85 miners' strike helped revive the British economy, but had major implications for the future of labor unions and coal mining in Britain. (comms@history.ox.ac.ukor +44 (0)1865 615000), Personal Circumstances and Contextualisation, Exercise Two - Indigenous Javanese Religion of the Republic of Indonesia, Modern British History 1850 to the present, Modern European History 1850 to the present, MSt in Global and Imperial History since 1400, MSc/MPhil in History of Science, Medicine and Technology, MSt/MPhil in Late Antique and Byzantine Studies, History Skills Workshops (info for teachers), Ayahs, memsahibs and their children: empire migrants, Boston King and the Black Loyalists of the American Revolution. When I drew by the girdle and chain the skin was broken, and the blood ran down. This significantly increased the number of miners who joined the protests and contributed to the national impact of the strike. Never to cross a picket line was a question of honour. $32k - $76k. Thirty-seven-year-old Betty Harris distressing testimony described pulling coal out of the pit on her hands and knees. Mining had provided generations with a steady income, homes for life and a strong sense of belonging. This led to power cuts, the introduction of a three-day working week and the downfall of the Conservative government of Edward Heath. Sign up to highlight and take notes. Let's look at a brief history of the coal mining community throughout Modern British history. The commission found that it was not just the conditions themselves that were brutal but also the treatment of the employees by the owners. In traditionally non-militant Nottinghamshire, many miners resented being strong-armed, as they saw it, into a strike without a ballot. In 1970, Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson lost the general election to Edward Heath of the Conservatives. Not long into the strike the slogan was invented, close a pit, kill a community. I durst now say anything. What were flying pickets in the miners' strike? However, a broad guide to subsequent changes is provided by later information from the average earnings index, covering all employees in mining and quarrying, which shows an increase of around 10 per cent. But the public vote went against him resulting in victory for the Labour Party. The 1980 Social Security Act had reduced the benefits that striking miners' families received. The Northern Star and Leeds General Advertiserprinted the minutes from a delegation of Miners of Northumberland and Durham.